Kayenta Williams: Kids and the limitless possibilities they grasp

Kayenta Williams

Age: 31

Family: Husband and two children, ages 4 and 1

Occupation: Online Instructor at the University of Phoenix and Pure Romance Consultant

About: I live in Greeley and teach writing for the University of Phoenix Online as well as work as a Pure Romance Consultant. I have an MFA in Creative Writing and write fiction and creative nonfiction when I'm not changing the world by raising two smart, kind, funny boys. Before I had my first son, I was an elementary teacher, but now my day job is raising my sons. You can read more about our adventures in parenting at my personal blog, Two Little Fishies.

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When I was little, I wanted to be a dog catcher. I thought it would be so cool to have a giant net like I'd seen in cartoons, and to run down the street swinging it at stray dogs. I had a cousin who wanted to be Shamu, and a sister who wanted to work in a salon where they dyed everyone's hair pink.

This is what I love about children. They see themselves as growing up in these fantastic roles, where anything is possible, and everything is obtainable. The innocence of that self-confidence is amazing, and is something I wish we could hold onto.

Right now, my 4-year-old wants to be a "firetist" - a scientist who studies fire, wears lava-proof suits, and dives into volcanoes to study how the flaming lava works. He also wants to be a volunteer firefighter so that he can rescue people when he isn't knee deep in hot magma.

I love that he has dreams like this, and that he has complete confidence in his ability to grow up and dive into volcanoes. If a lava-proof suit doesn't exist when he graduates with his volcanologist degree, he is certain he will invent one. And hey, who am I to say he will not? He is an incredibly smart, creative child, and he will stop at nothing to see an idea through.

Most of us tell our children they can grow up to be anything they want, and when I say this, my son looks at me and says, "Of course, I can!"

So we nurture his obsession with volcanoes and firefighters. We read science books about how volcanoes come to be and history books about Pompeii. We play endless, monotonous games of fire rescue, with him dressed in full firefighter costume and me as the poor, lost hiker who's once again found herself stuck on top of a mountain stairway.

I don't know if my son's dream of being a fire scientist will last, and while I definitely hope he does not one day end up in a career requiring him to dive into active volcanoes, I am proud to watch him stretching his active imagination. I love that he sees himself in an inventive grown-up role, helping people and studying the planet. It's almost as good as a giant net for chasing dogs.